‘Couldn’t sleep for the next 15 days’ – Yuvraj Singh after Dimitri Mascarenhas smashed five consecutive sixes off him

Yuvraj Singh’s sixes off Stuart Broad at the Kingsmead, Durban in the 2007 T20 World Cup has inspired many. He was seething with anger and carted the England fast bowler all across the park. But only a couple of weeks prior to that, the now former Indian cricketer was at the receiving end.

At the Kennington Oval in London, Dimitri Mascarenhas smacked him for five sixes on the trot. The left-arm spinner was entrusted to bowl the final over by skipper Rahul Dravid. It caught Yuvraj by surprise and after the hammering, the over kept haunting him for the next 15 days.

I never got so many calls: Yuvraj Singh

“I was playing a game at the Oval and I don’t know why the captain [Dravid] gave me to bowl the last over. Dimitri Mascarenhas hit me for five sixes in six balls. I’m glad he didn’t hit me for six sixes and I couldn’t sleep for the next 15 days,” Yuvraj was quoted as saying during a Facebook Live session on the Sony Ten Pit Stop show.

He was also amazed by the responses of his dear ones after the horrendous over in the bilateral ODI series. “The calls and messages from my friends after that were really disheartening. I never got so many calls when I scored a hundred,” he stated.

Yuvraj started the over with a dot delivery. But once Mascarenhas deposited him over the mid-wicket fence, there was no stopping him. The cameo also helped the hosts get past the 300-run mark. But India went on to win the game by two wickets with two balls to spare courtesy Sachin Tendulkar’s 94 and collective efforts from the others.

In the T20 WC, Mascarenhas was a part of the Three Lions when Yuvraj smashed the 12-ball half-century. Going down the memory lane, the Chandigarh-born Yuvraj said that he was satisfied to return England the favour.

“Then I remember when I hit six sixes, I did not look at Broad or anyone, I looked at Dimitri and said, ‘This is over now, this is gone to bed’. It was very satisfying that I could do it against the same team,” Yuvraj added.